Page 6 of Bluebell’s Fate

He looked so deeply into her soul, she shivered. He was breathing hard. “I beg of you, what is your name?”

A silent alarm went off in Bell’s mind. She had not been properly introduced to this man. What would her mother say, nay do, if she knew of this encounter? Likely she would lock Bell up and pretend that she was no longer her daughter. Then Bell would have to wait for some handsome prince to come save her, and it would help if he looked like Mr. Payne did now, with an uninhibited need for her in his eyes.

She shook the story from her mind as she felt heat crawl up her neck. Bell had crossed far too many lines of propriety. Her conscience would not allow her name to escape. She simply shook her head from side to side. Too many emotions flared within her to make much sense of anything. She’d imagined, in great detail, how love would come to her over the years. Her hopes of finding an explorer or a pirate had been dashed to pieces when she’d been told she had to have a season in London. No, her future was a stiff, ordered, well-mannered courtship amongst the social elite. But that could not possibly compete with the amount of feeling she had just experienced with a complete stranger.

Perhaps they could be introduced in a few weeks during the season. Surely he would want to further their acquaintance as she did. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I should have never allowed you to get lost again. I…”

He raised his hand. “No, do not blame yourself. It is I who have need to apologize. But I still cannot say whether I believe you are real or not. Perhaps it is better that this remain a dream.”

Remain a dream? What did he mean, this remain a dream? She jerked backward, severing their connection. Did he truly have no desire to know her beyond a stolen kiss? Had she misread him? Had he been holding her away from him in disgust? What kind of a man was this? And why had she allowed the magic around her to make her forget herself? She knew better than to let her fancy run away with her, but never had she felt so betrayed by her own heart.

The kiss they shared suddenly turned rancid, and an intense knife of pain slashed at her naive chest. She wished the pain away, that the fairies were real, and that they would turn him into a poor rabbit. She blinked, wishing for her imagination to solve her dilemma, but the handsome cad remained before her. She gave a curt nod and marched toward the road as confused as she could possibly be.

She would forget this entire afternoon had ever happened. Surely, she could weave a story better than this. A story where a man loved a woman and wanted her to be with him always. A story that had a happy ending. In short, an unlikely story, resembling every other one she’d invented.

Chapter Four

Nathaniel followed the nymph through the woods. Had he gone completely insane? If he had, he’d like to do so more often. The woman before him was mesmerizing, otherworldly, unreal. But he couldn’t convince himself that the feel of her lips pressed against his own was a dream. And if she wasn’t a dream, what must she think of him? He’d practically thrown himself at her. Not that she hadn’t been a full participant, but it was his fault. His addled mind had been convinced that if he tried to kiss her, she would disappear, just as she had before. Where had his good sense fled to? People didn’t just disappear. She’d been solid and warm in his arms, and he’d more than enjoyed the sensation; but he’d not treated her like a lady.

He ran to catch up to her. “You have every right to be angry with me.”

She cast him a sidelong glare.

He reached for her hand, but she spun away, and he caught hold of the end of her sash. The tidy bow came untied. He released it and left the blue sash hanging limply between them. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed his hands down the front of his pants then clasped them behind his back to keep them in check.

A neighing caught his attention, and he looked up past where the woman stood, frozen. His post-chaise was a stone’s throw up the road with a carriage pulled up alongside, and now someone was talking with his driver through the open window. A face appeared in the window closest to Nathaniel, and a woman pointed toward him.

A sense of foreboding struck Nathaniel as another feminine face joined the window.

“Bluebell Gardner! What in the heavens are you doing?” The second woman’s voice caused Nathaniel’s jaw to clench. Nathaniel’s spine went rigid. He took one large step forward, grasped his dream girl’s hand, and pulled her behind him up the small hill toward the road. Every muscle in his body tensed to protect this woman from the shrill tones of the woman in the carriage. How had they already reached the road?

“This is just a dream, this is just a dream,” the angel behind him chanted to herself, her small hand shaking wildly in his.

But she was wrong. This dream had turned into a garish nightmare because nothing about this scene was going to be easy to explain.

Nathaniel turned around and faced those beautiful, scared, sapphire eyes. He swallowed. “Everything will be alright. Follow me.”

He took her trembling hand and threaded it through his arm as if he were escorting her into dinner. He led their way to the road, where four society matrons were disembarking from their carriage and looking down their noses at him. One of the faces looked livid enough to make him shudder, with tight eyes and flaring nostrils. His driver and footman stood behind them, shifting their weight back and forth uncomfortably. Just how long had he been in the woods?

“Good afternoon.” He bowed to the women when he got closer. “Nathaniel Payne,” he introduced himself as he stretched his free arm wide in a show of confidence, although he possessed none of it at the moment. “I decided to stretch my legs in this beautiful wood and got myself turned around. This lovely lady,” he gestured to what he could only describe as a wilting flower, “helped me to find my way back to the road.” He smiled.

Two of the matrons began tittering behind their hands, but the woman who was quite obviously their leader held up her hand, and the tittering came to an abrupt halt. Nathaniel took note of the woman’s silky, nearly black hair and her aquiline nose, skin as clear and as pale as milk, and eyes as hard as flint. He held his breath in fear.

“Bluebell, I expected more from you.” She cut a look so scathing at the woman beside him, Nathaniel was surprised his nymph didn’t begin to bleed. “Get in the carriage, now.”

Nathaniel’s companion left his side and stumbled across the road and into the carriage, her untied sash flapping behind her like a bird with a broken wing. Her name was Bluebell? Who named their daughter Bluebell? The carriage door snapped shut behind her, and the curtains were pulled across the window, blocking Nathaniel’s view of the enchanting young woman. He pulled his eyes back to the matron staring him down like a hawk preparing to swoop down and devour a mouse. “I am dreadfully sorry for any misunderstanding, my lady.” He ducked his head.

The woman’s voice came out calm and measured, but an eerie feeling vibrated around it. “How long were you in the woods, Mr. Payne?”

Nathaniel thought back. “I don’t know precisely. I would guess a quarter of an hour.” He looked to his driver.

The man’s cheeks went ruddy, and he looked at the ground. “It was just over an hour, sir.”

Over an hour! Alone in the woods with a woman for that amount of time did not bode well. It didn’t matter that he was walking around by himself for much of that time. It was far too long to be considered appropriate. Strictly speaking though, any amount of time together would be considered inappropriate. Nathaniel cleared his throat. “Under the unconventional circumstances I am faced with, might I ask who it is I have the pleasure of meeting?” His cheeks felt hot, and his heart decided that skipping about in erratic rhythms was the best course of action to keep him alive at the moment.

He never did trust his heart. It was a five-letter word.

The leader pressed her lips together in a firm line. “I am the Countess Gardner. I assume you know my daughter, Bluebell.”